Research summary

WHO CONDUCTED IT: Robert M. Goerge and Robert J. Chaskin, Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago.

WHAT THEY FOUND: Freshmen were more likely to spend time alone, with friends or doing homework than they were to engage in structured after-school activities. They also were slightly more likely to be supervising siblings or other kids.

WHO WAS STUDIED: Nearly 16,000 9th-graders from 60 high schools in Chicago responded to a survey about what they did after school. Survey results were weighted to accurately reflect the city’s racial and ethnic makeup.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Goerge suggests that more can be done to get kids to participate in after-school programs. “If there were more marketing to kids about after-school programs, we might see more participation,” he says.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: The study “What Ninth Grade Students In The Chicago Public Schools Do In Their Out-Of-School Time” can be found online at

www.chapinhall.uchicago.edu.

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About Chicago Reporter

Founded on the heels of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, The Chicago Reporter confronts racial and economic inequality, using the power of investigative journalism. Our mission is national but grounded in Chicago, one of the most segregated cities in the nation and a bellwether for urban policies.